

CONGRESS, UNITED STATES. (AMEBIOAN MERCHANT MARINE.) 



201 



or action for the recovery of such wages : Provided, 

 That this section shall not apply to whaling-vessels : 

 And provided further, That it snail be lawful for any 

 seaman to stipulate in his shipping agreement for an 

 allotment of any portion of the wages vyhich he may 

 earn to his wife, mother^ or other relative, but to no 

 other person or corporation. And any person who 

 shall falsely claim such relationship to any seaman in 

 order to obtain wages so allotted shall, for every such 

 oifense, be punishable by a fine of not exceeding five 

 hundred dollars or imprisonment not exceeding six 

 months, at the discretion of the court. This section 

 shall apply as well to foreign vessels as to vessels of 

 the United States ; and any foreign vessel the master, 

 owner, consignee or agent of which has violated this 

 section, or induced or. connived at its violation, shall 

 be refused a clearance from any port of the United 

 States. 



SEC. 11. That every vessel mentioned in section 4569 

 of the Eevised Statutes shall also be provided with a 

 slop-chest, which shall contain a complement of cloth- 

 ing for the intended voyage for each seaman employed, 

 including boots or shoes, hats or caps, under-clothing 

 and outer clothing, oiled clothing, and everything 

 necessary for the wear of a seaman ; also, a full sup- 

 ply of tobacco and blankets. Any of the contents of 

 the slop-chest shall be sold, from time to time, to 

 any or every seaman applying therefor, for his own 

 use, at a profit not exceeding 25 per cent, of the rea- 

 sonable wholesale value of the same at the port at 

 which the voyage commenced. And if any such ves- 

 sel is not provided, before sailing, as herein required, 

 the owner shall be liable to a penalty of not more than 

 two hundred dollars. The provisions of this section 

 shall not apply to vessels plying between the United 

 States and the Dominion of Canada, Newfoundland, 

 the Bermuda Islands, the Bahama Islands, the West 

 Indies, Mexico, and Central America. 



SEC. 12. That on and after July 1, 1884, no fees 

 named in the tariif of consular fees prescribed bv order 

 of the President, shall be charged or collected by con- 

 sular officers for the official services to American ves- 

 sels and seamen. Consular officers shall furnish the 

 master of every such vessel with an itemized state- 

 ment of such services performed on account of said 

 vessel, with the fee so prescribed for each service, and 

 make a detailed report to the Secretary of the Treasury 

 of such services and fees under such regulations as 

 the Secretary of State may prescribe ; and the Secre- 

 tary of the Treasury shall allow consular officers who 

 are paid in whole or in part by fees such compensa- 

 tion for said services as they would have received 

 prior to the passage : " Provided, That such services, 

 in the opinion of the Secretary of the Treasury, have 

 been necessarily rendered, and a sum sufficient for 

 the payment of such compensation, when thus adjust- 

 ed by the Secretary of the Treasury, is hereby appro- 

 priated out of any money in the Treasury not other- 

 wise appropriated"; and the Senate agree to the 

 same. 



SEC. 13. That section 4213 of the Eevised Statutes 

 be amended so as to read as follows : 



" SEC. 4213. It shall be the duty of all masters of 

 vessels for whom any official services shall be per- 

 formed by any consular officer without the payment 

 of a fee to require a written statement of such services 

 from such consular officer, and after certifying as to 

 whether such statement is correct, to furnish it to the 

 collector of the district in which such vessels shall 

 first arrive on their return to the United States ; and 

 if any such master of a vessel shall fail to furnish such 

 statement he shall be liable to a fine of not exceeding 

 fifty dollars, unless such master shall state under oath 

 that no such statement was furnished him by said 

 consular officer. And it shall be the duty of every 

 collector to forward to the Secretary of the Treasury 

 all such statements as shall have been furnished to 

 him, and also a statement of all certified invoices 

 which shall come to his office, giving the dates of the 

 certificates and the names of the persons for whom 



and of the consular officer by whom the same were 

 certified." 



SEC. 14. That in lieu of the tax on tonnage of thirty 

 cents per ton per annum heretofore imposed by law, a 

 duty of three cents per ton, not to exceed in the aggre- 

 gate fifteen cents per ton in any one year, is hereby im- 

 posed at each entry on all vessels which shall be entered 

 in any port of the United States from any foreign port 

 or place in North America, Central America, the 

 West India Islands, the Bahama Islands, the Bermuda 

 Islands, or the Sandwich Islands, or Newfoundland ; 

 and a duty of six cents per ton, not to exceed thirty 

 cents per ton per annum, is herebv imposed at each 

 entry upon all vessels which shall be entered in the 

 United States from any other foreign ports : Provided. 

 That the President of the United States shall suspend 

 the collection of so much of the duty herein imposed 

 on vessels entered from any port in the Dominion of 

 Canada, Newfoundland, the Bahama Islands, the Ber- 

 muda IslandSj the West India Islands, Mexico, and 

 Central America, down to and including Aspinwall 

 and Panama, as may be in excess of the tonnage and 

 lighthouse dues, or other equivalent tax or taxes, im- 

 posed on American vessels by the government of the 

 foreign country in which such port is situated, and 

 shall upon the passage of this act, and from time to 

 time thereafter as often as it may become necessary 

 bv reason of change in the laws of the foreign coun- 

 tries above mentioned, indicate by proclamation the 

 ports to which such suspension shall apply, and the 

 rate or rates of tonnage duty, if any, to be collected 

 under such suspension : Ana provided further, That 

 all vessels which have paid the tonnage-tax imposed 

 by section 4219 of the Eevised Statutes for the current 

 year shall not be liable to the tax herein levied until 

 the expiration of the certificate of last payment of the 

 said tax. And sections 4223 and 4224, and so much 

 of section 4219 of the Eevised Statutes as conflicts 

 with this section, are hereby repealed. 



SEO. 15. Sections 4585, 4586, and 4587 of the Eevised 

 Statutes, and all other acts and parts of acts providing 

 for the assessment and collection of a hospital-tax for 

 seamen, are hereby repealed, and the expense of main- 

 taining the Marine-Hospital Service shall hereafter be 

 borne by the United States out of the receipts for 

 duties on tonnage provided for by this act, and so 

 much thereof as may be necessary is hereby appro- 

 priated for that purpose. 



SEC. 16. All articles of foreign production needed, 

 and actually withdrawn from bonded warehouses, for 

 supplies, not including equipment, of vessels of the 

 United States engaged in the foreign trade, including 

 the trade between the Atlantic and Pacific ports of 

 the United States, may be so withdrawn free of duty, 

 under such regulations as the Secretary of the Treas- 

 ury may prescribe. 



SEC. 17. When a vessel is built in the United States 

 for foreign account, wholly or partly of foreign ma- 

 terials on which import duties have been paid, there 

 shall be allowed on such vessel, when exported, a 

 drawback equal in amount to the duty paid on such 

 materials, to be ascertained under such regulations as 

 may be prescribed by the Secretary of the Treasury. 

 Ten per cent, of the amount of such drawback so 

 allowed shall, however, be retained for the use of the 

 United States by the collector paying the same. 



SEC. 18. That the individual liability of a ship- 

 owner shall be limited to the proportion of any or all 

 debts and liabilities that his individual share of the 

 vessel bears to the whole ; and the aggregate liabili- 

 ties of all the owners of a vessel on account of the 

 same shall not exceed the value of such vessels and 

 freight pending : Provided, That this provision shall 

 not affect the liability of any owner incurred pre- 

 vious to the passage of this act, nor prevent any claim- 

 ant from joining all the owners in one action ; nor 

 shall the same apply to wages due to- persons em- 

 ployed by said ship-owners. 



SEC. 19. That a master of a vessel in the foreign 

 trade may engage a seaman at any port in the United 



